Michigan center Aday Mara makes NBA Draft decision ahead of deadline

His presence and impact in the paint showed in many of Michigan’s defensive numbers. The Wolverines ranked No. 1 in nation in defensive efficiency (0.885 points per possession), No. 2 in 2-point defense (43.8%), No. 3 in block percentage (16.4%) and No. 4 in average distance of 2-point attempts (7.3 feet), per KenPom, all which Mara contributed to in a major way.

With his creativity and vision, Mara often found cutters when he initiated offense out of the high post and passed out of double-teams. He was a clever low-post player and a lob threat who could finish with either hand around the rim. He averaged a career-high 12.1 points in 23.4 minutes while shooting 66.8% from the field.

While he shot 56.4% at the foul line, he showed noticeable improvement late in the season by knocking down 74% of his free throws over the final 19 games. And after not attempting a single 3-pointer during his two seasons at UCLA, where he primarily played a reserve role, he flashed his long-range shooting at Michigan by going 3-for-10 from beyond the arc.

“He had talent. Everyone for the last 10 years has known he's had talent, but how do you unlock that talent?” May said. “We did feel like we had the system in place where we could maximize what he does well.”

It showed, especially in the postseason when Mara elevated his play and made history as the first Spaniard to win an NCAA Division I men’s basketball national championship.

His signature performance — and arguably his best outing all season — came in the Final Four win over Arizona. Against the Wildcats’ physical defensive frontline, Mara poured in a career-high 26 points with nine rebounds.

That helped turn him into a March Madness stock riser who’s projected to go anywhere from the lottery to late first round in mock drafts by national outlets like Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, ESPN, The Athletic and Yahoo! Sports.

“Aday has put a lot of work and it takes time to grow into this role. He's physically more mature than he was,” May said. “Did we envision this? We went back and we looked at his film and playing with the Spanish national team, playing for (club team) Zaragoza and he had shown glimpses of this.

“Coming over he was projected on the mock drafts as maybe a lottery pick, a top-10 pick, and then those things changed. But he's playing ball at a high level, and he's added a lot to our program.”

In addition to Mara, fellow frontcourt starter Morez Johnson Jr. declared for the draft Friday while retaining his college eligibility. The Wolverines added 7-foot-2 Cincinnati center Moustapha Thiam, who's viewed as a replacement for Mara, via the transfer portal earlier in the day.

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

@jamesbhawkins

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan Wolverines center Aday Mara enters 2026 NBA Draft